Life is a near-death experience.
George CarlinRead
So about 80 years after the Constitution is ratified, the slaves are freed. Not so you'd really notice it of course; just kinda on paper. And that of course was at the end of the Civil War. Now there is another phrase I dearly love. That is a true oxymoron if I've ever heard one: "Civil War." Do you think anybody in this country could ever really have a civil war? "Say, pardon me?" (shoots gun) "I'm awfully sorry. Awfully sorry."
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the idea of a 'Civil War' by highlighting the absurdity of the term in the context of violence.
George Carlin's quote reflects on the paradox of the term 'Civil War,' suggesting that true civility cannot coexist with the brutality of war. He points out that while the freeing of slaves is a significant historical event, it often existed as a mere formality in a society still plagued by violence and injustice, thereby highlighting the absurdity and irony inherent in the term itself.
Themes
Civil WarIronyViolenceFreedomSociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about the nature of conflict in society.
More from George Carlin
All quotes →Here’s a bumper sticker I’d like to see: “We are the proud parents of a child who’s self-esteem is sufficient that he doesn’t need us promoting his minor scholastic achievements on the back of our car."
George CarlinRead
If you've got a cat and a leg, you've got a happy cat. If you've got a cat and two legs, you've got a party.
George CarlinRead
This is a lttle prayer dedicated to the separation of church and state. I guess if they are going to force those kids to pray in schools they might as well have a nice prayer like this: Our Father who art in heaven, and to the republic for which it stands, thy kingdom come, one nation indivisible as in heaven, give us this day as we forgive those who so proudly we hail. Crown thy good into temptation but deliver us from the twilight's last gleaming. Amen and Awomen.
George CarlinRead
Some people try to get out of jury duty by lying. You don't have to lie. Tell the judge the truth. Tell him you'd make a terrific juror because you can spot guilty people.
George CarlinRead
Intelligence tests are biased toward the literate.
George CarlinRead
Similar quotes
When everything that matters can be bought and sold, when commitments can be broken because they are no longer to our advantage, when shopping becomes salvation and advertising slogans become our litany, when our worth is measured by how much we earn and spend, then the market is destroying the very virtues on which in the long run it depends.
Jonathan SacksRead
I loathe my name because it is mine and also because it is not mine; it is at once too intimate and seems to have no connection with me. Perhaps because the name is quite common, it never seems to fit me, or fit me alone. Nevertheless, when I see the name, I always feel a peculiar sense of shame.
Mark FisherRead
But this momentous question, like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror.
Thomas JeffersonRead
Race was thick in the O.J. Simpson case from the very beginning, but it wasn't evident. And I think the O.J. Simpson case revealed that there is subtle race, and there is sophisticated race, and there's evident and observable race.
Michael Eric DysonRead
God doesn’t need to punish us. He just grants us a long enough life to punish ourselves.
Barbara KingsolverRead
Liberty, Humanity, Justice, Equality
Susan B. AnthonyRead